Market Trends

Strategic Collaboration Advances Robotics Field
A strategic collaboration between Maxon Precision Motors and National Instruments  looks to highlight mutual areas of interest in the field of robotics. An informal relationship between the two companies was initiated as early as 2006, with the inclusion of NI LabVIEW VIs in Maxon’s EPOS family of digital position and speed controllers. Most recently, the two companies collaborated on the design and development of ViNI, an all inclusive robotics platform created by engineers at National Instruments. ViNI is driven exclusively by Maxon motors, gearheads, and encoders and NI CompactRIO embedded controls. Other notable robotic applications driven by Maxon motion control products include the Mars Rover by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Da Vinci surgical robot by Intuitive Surgical, and DARwin – the humanoid robot – developed at RoMeLa, the Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech University.

Both Maxon and National Instruments recognize that the advancements in each respective area of their expertise are complementary, so they are looking to provide designers with state-of-the-art hardware and software solutions for developing new robotic products and applications. maxonmotorusa.com; ni.com

2010 Innovation of Americas Contest Call for Entries
The third biennial cutting contest, the 2010 Innovation of the Americas (IofA), sponsored by Mori Seiki, is now accepting entries. The IofA contest is designed to recognize the machinist who demonstrates the highest level of innovation in part design and manufacturing. Open to all individuals, companies, schools, and research institutes in North, Central, and South America that perform cutting operations on a CNC machine tool, entries are being accepted in four categories: aircraft/aerospace, automotive, die/mold/artistic, and general/tool/toy. Based on the importance the company places on recognizing skilled workers, Mori Seiki has enhanced the prize package for this year’s event. The four first place category winners will receive a cash prize of $2,500; second place winners will receive $1,000. All entrants will receive an invitation to attend the awards ceremony on Thursday, September 16, 2010. Winners will be announced at IMTS 2010, with the winning entries displayed for the duration of IMTS in the Mori Seiki booth (S-8900). For contest submission instructions, deadlines, and online entry, visit moriseikius.com/IofA.

Medical Molding Division
With a strong percentage of business in the medical industry, Crescent Industries formed their Medical Molding division, Crescent Medical Plastics, in late 2009. Today, Crescent Medical Plastics operates in a 10,000ft2 cleanroom facility that has been ISO13485:2003 certified for medical device production. Crescent performs custom injection molding services in an ISO 8 cleanroom environment and assembly and packaging in an ISO 7 cleanroom environment. Crescent has the ability to produce Class I, II, and III medical devices, surgical equipment, and disposables for the medical industry. crescentind.com

Science-Based Approach to Complex Medical Assemblies
As a contract manufacturer of FDA Class I, II, and III  products, Minnesota Rubber and Plastics (MR&P) provides a science-based approach to its services, which include product design, prototyping, and evaluation for combining science and technology to create value. MR&P’s development role is facilitated by digital tools for visualizing and analyzing new designs, materials, and products. Within the design discipline, MR&P uses the latest design tools to analyze the relationship between the structure of materials, their properties, how processing changes them, and how the materials will perform in an application. All facilities operate under a corporate-wide Environmental Management System registered to the International Standards Organization series ISO-14001. To ensure that resources and costs are managed effectively, MR&P provides comprehensive program management. Its global infrastructure allows the company to optimize resources and technologies so as to prioritize across projects and departments to ensure that customer needs and interests are always at the forefront of the organization. mnrubber.com